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By Wayne Goldsmith
Let’s get this right from the start:
There are NO 7 year old backstrokers.
There are NO 9 year old freestylers.
There are NO 10 year old IMers.
There are just kids who swim — who, at that point in their development, swim one specific stroke a little better than the other strokes.
Now I know coaches and parents everywhere are reading this and thinking “He’s wrong. Johnny the 8 year old just broke the club record for 50 backstroke. He’s a backstroker.”
WRONG x A MILLION.
Little Johnny is just an eight year old kid who, for whatever reason, happens to swim backstroke faster than the other eight year old kids.
Coaches — we need to stop referring to young kids as stroke specialists.
Why?
Because parents and swimmers develop the expectation that:
a. My child / I am a “champion” backstroker or freestyler or breaststroker — and there are NO 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 year old champions.
b. My child / I don’t need to do the other strokes or learn the other events because I’m a “backstroker” or “freestyler.”
The truth is this.
A young swimmer could be brilliant at freestyle this year. Then they grow, their limb lengths change, and POW — they can’t swim freestyle very well anymore.
Happens over and over all around the world. We know this. As coaches we’ve seen it a million times. Yet it keeps happening.
My friends — here are five practical tips:
* Do not refer to any swimmer under about 14 as “the butterflyer” or any single stroke specialisation.
* Take a balanced approach to development — all strokes, all events, speed training, aerobic work, great skills, underwater kicking, dives, starts, turns, finishes. Balanced.
* Discourage parents from entering their kids only in specialist stroke events at meets. “My 8 year old is a breaststroker so we’re only entering 50 and 100 breaststroke” — no.
* Build an overall stroke development philosophy in your team. Focus on events like:
* 50 metres all strokes (develops real speed)
* 200 IM (develops all strokes, turning skills, endurance)
* 400 freestyle (develops endurance, sustained speed, discipline)
* Relays (fun, team spirit, speed development)
* Educate parents and swimmers. Prepare them for the reality that bodies and minds change year by year — and it’s perfectly normal to change stroke focus right up until mid-teens.
The bottom line?
Don’t build a 9 year old backstroker.
Build a 9 year old who loves swimming, learns everything, and becomes whatever they’re meant to become — when they’re ready.
That’s how you develop swimmers for the long game.
Swimming coaches — if you want to develop swimmers this way but need help making it work in your program, that’s exactly what I do in CoachTED.
One-on-one mentoring for swimming coaches who want to coach for the long game — not just the next meet.
Contact me through Swimming Gold or email wayne@moregold.com.au
Wayne Goldsmith
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